Antioxidants are a class of additives which finds extensive use in various petroleum products. Antioxidants when used in lubricating oils need to have low volatility, and substituted diphenyl ethers may be used as antioxidants in lubricating oils. Important intermediates in the preparation of such antioxidants are nitro-substituted diphenyl ethers. The latter typically are prepared by the reaction of a phenolate with a nitro-substituted halobenzene. This reaction is characterized by modest yields of the desired product in a relatively impure state necessitating one or more subsequent purification steps.